My Bloody Valentine
by MidnightStarr
Summary: Six girls and a hotel.Shattered hearts inside.Storm outside.Throw in a proverbial murder mystery with a killer,and you've got one holiday to remember.'He Loves Me,He Loves Me Not.'
1. Before and After

**My tears run down like razor blades  
And no I'm not the one to blame  
It's you or is it me?  
And all the words we never say  
Come out and now we're all ashamed  
And there's no sense in playing games  
When you've done all you can do.**

**_{Valentine's Day,2008}_**

Soft snow flakes fluttered to the ground outside the clear glass windows of the BBA building. Valentine's Day; She sat there, staring out at the grey sky and watching the white cotton sift to the ground. She sighed and brushed some hair behind her ear. What a brilliant night it was... What a brilliant setting... What a brilliant tragedy;

Happy Valentine's Day.

Happy.. _Bloody_.. Valentine's Day.

**_{1 Year Earlier, Feb.5,2007}_**

Jemma Katina pulled her black sweater tighter around herself as she left the set for her daytime drama show; 'Cold Love'. Cold it was. The girl shivered as she walked across the parking lot to the other set for the show, and knocked on the door of a trailer. The gesture was soon answered

when Mariam Carey stepped out, pulling her winter's jacket tighter around herself like Jemma had done.

"Light snow; But it's still so cold." The bluenette said.

"Yes. It's very cold." Jemma answered, and together, arm in arm, the two best friends strode to the street intersection to hail a taxi.

Fate had been kind to them, after the summer they turned girls had managed to get highly coveted positions as actresses for a new show on T.V, and it had been receiving great ratings. Jemma even had the chance to get a leading role in a movie; But chose to stick behind since her best friend Mariam hadn't the qualifications to do so. They still bladed, of course. Actually, that was more their first job, and they spent more time at the BBA then at the set for 'Cold Love'. Much like now; Shooting had been wrapped for the day, and they were heading back to home. Back to the BBA. After the countless millions being world champion beybladers on the G Revolutions team, Judy Tate, Stanley Dickinson and Hiro Granger thought it cruel to split the team up every summer. So, they bought the rest of the vacant land surrounding the BBA in New York City, and turned it into a full-scale mansion. Everyone had a room, a common room, and a place to be. A place to belong. Yes, ...Fate had been kind.

But not in all ways.

Kai Hiwatari, ice king extraordinaire, had soon shed his emotionless exterior and opened his heart to romance. But of course; Out of all the fabulous girls he had to choose from, who would he pick? He simply couldn't. So he didn't. Kai had been dating each one of them. Well, nearly each one. Kai and Jemma had hooked up last year, and seemed to be in blissville. None the less with everyone else. Mariam came soon after, and the two girls were overjoyed to have such a man. They talked about it for long hours, and even they had been hoping to have more girls to gossip about Kai with. They got their wish. Mariah and Salima joined the league of dating Kai, and the friendship soon turned 4 ways. All of them were so happy; and none were bitter. And a month later, a shy Emily had vied for Kai's affections also. Not to mention Hilary.6 girls; 1 man.1 Love. And none of them, Kai included; Wanted to change that. Or so they thought, Kai included...

The relationships lasted, for so long. Until one cold February morning, the first actually, Kai showed up to the set of 'Cold Love' with a cold thorn. He had knocked on Jemma's trailer door, and said flat out that he did not want to be with her anymore. When Jemma has asked why, he told her he was tired of all the lies and rumors she'd been spitting to him about the other girls.

'What lies?! What rumors?!' She'd countered with. But to no avail. He said he didn't want to hear such dribbles of regret. Mariam had opened her trailer window from across the lot and heard the commotion, hardly believing herself that Jemma would do such a thing. Kai walked and left Jemma then, standing there by her trailer door with her soft black hair flying in the frost-bitten air. And he made his way to Mariam's trailer. Mariam gulped, hoping it wasn't the same deal... But it was. Kai confronted her with allegations of her being cold to him, almost void of his love. The SaintShield couldn't believe her ears.

'I always kissed you with love and compassion!' She had said. No. He wouldn't hear of it. Kai told her he always had to ask for a kiss, and sometimes the reply would be 'not in public' or some other lame excuse. A tear ran down her snowy cheek as Kai walked away. Jemma watched from across the lot, mouth hanging open in shock. How could he?! She, especially, and Mariam, ...They'd given him everything!!......What about the other girls??

When Jemma and Mariam had arrived back at the BBA that day, they found the other 4 in tears in the common room.

'He said I was still in love with Tyson!' Hilary cried.

'He said I wouldn't sleep with him!' Salima sobbed.

'He said I was too clingy!' Mariah sniffled.

'He said I was ugly!' Emily whined.

Jemma and Mariam could all but tell their tales and try to give, and get, consolation from the others.

_That was then. This is now._

* * *

Mariam and Jemma smiled as a cab halted to a stop so they could climb inside and get some shelter from the snowy sky.

"The BBA building please." Mariam chirped as the driver nodded and sped off. Yes... The grand break-ups were only 4 days behind them. None of the girls had been quite themselves... They all had Kai to blame. The taxi stopped again as it reached the revolving doors of the BBA. White twinkles were still falling, and Jemma and Mariam hurried out of the cab and into the comfort of their home. Their high heels made clicking sounds as they trotted down the corridor. Normal conversations surrounded the girls as Mariam walked aimlessly and Jemma slid on her Mp3 earphones.

'Oh yes! Magnificent attack!'

'A storm for valentine's? How sad.'

'I need more COFFEE!'

'Keep Tyson out of the refrigerator!'

Nothing new. The two girls drew nearer to the common room where their other companions would most certainly be waiting. And they were.

"Hey you two. How was filming today?" Mariah asked, turning a page in her Cosmo magazine.

"Fine." Mariam answered, dropping down on the couch. Jemma fell into a loveseat, lost in her music like usual, void of anything and anyone around her. Mariam tapped her foot impatiently.

Emily looked up from her laptop, and she could've growled as the stoic Russian walked by. Actually, everyone looked at him that way since the last 4 days. They hated him... They all hated him.

_They all loved him._ Emily sighed and returned her attention to her laptop.

"I wanna run away."

They looked at her. Salima cocked an eyebrow.

"Hm? Run away where?" Emily was about to answer when Mariam answered for her.

"Anywhere. What would you guys say about a little getaway, you know, just us girls? Just the 6 of us? I was thinking... That maybe we could all put our cheques together and rent a hotel."

"A hotel? Just us 6? I'd _die_ for it!" Salima exclaimed. At this point, serious talk of an amazing Valentine's getaway ensued. Mariah even nudged Jemma in the ribs, signalling for her to shut off her music and listen; Which she did.

"I seriously think this could work. If we all chipped in say,$3000,we could do it easy." Mariam shrugged.

"That's a good idea. I'm in!" Mariah mused, raising her hand. Salima and Emily nodded too, and eagerly raised their hands. Mariam chuckled and raised hers a little. Jemma shook her head at the enthusiastic bunch around her with a smile on her face.

"How could I say no?" The black-haired girl raised her hand too. They all whooped and high-fived.

"But when would it be?" Salima asked, raising an eyebrow in thought. Jemma looked up in thought too.

"Hmmm.... Uh.... Why not Valentine's Day, and a few days after or before?? We could get eachother gifts!! It could be like a secret santa!" She said. The girls erupted into cheers again. _The plan was on._


	2. Live Like You Were Dying

_**{Feb.12,2 Days Before Valentine's Day}**_

Mariam, Mariah, Salima, Emily and Hilary climbed out of the crowded taxi to find themselves staring up at the Marmont Hotel.

"This.. Is.. Gonna.. Be awesome!" Mariah forced out. They chuckled and all nodded and began to carry their bags inside the fabulous spectacle of a building. Inside it looked about 100 times bigger! The girls quickly clambered inside, holding their hair to avoid the harsh wind messing it up.

Once they got inside and dropped their bags by the baggage carts, they looked up in awe.

"Holy shit, right?" Jemma said, appearing out of a corridor which they guessed led to the rooms.

"...Yeah..." They got out. The Marmont Hotel was decked out in the rafters above by white-tiled angels, surrounded by banisters of gold and an enchanting carpet of deep red. All the staff fluttering about them were dressed in red and gold to match the decor, and were very polite.

"So Jemma, did you book our rooms?" Emily asked.

"Yupp." Jemma said, taking out a folded napkin. "This place has rooms in quadruple digits... We're in room...2342." The girls 'ahh'ed. Such majesty. "But I didn't get the keycards or anything yet. I haven't even_ managed_ to find our room!" The girls chuckled.

"That's our Jemma. Stupid. As always." Jemma pouted playfully at Mariam's comment,but the two girls soon hugged and skipped over to the counter of the lobby.

"Hello. You must be our VIP guests." The man said. He wasn't wearing a nametag, but the girls could care less. "As you asked, the** whole hotel** is empty per your usage." They looked at eachother and grinned. "Now, there is a balcony upstairs just a corridor down from your 5-Star suite. You can't miss it. There are phones downstairs and upstairs for your use, all charge on the hotel. If you ladies request new bedsheets, the laundry room is a corridor down from the kitchen. And frankly, you can't miss the kitchen. Follow your noses." They all nodded. Neither of them could wait to get their hands on those cardkeys. "Ahhh yes; Your keys." Their smiles grew. "There is a key for each one of you. And if you happen to misplace or lose one, we have plenty extras here in the lobby. Now, enjoy your stay at Marmont Hotel. And _Happy Valentine's Day_."

When the 6 of them pocketed their keys and opened the door to their room, their spirits soared. It was amazing. 6 beds, plush red carpet, Golden and white walls, and 2 _big screen tvs!_ They thought it was too good to be true. _Nope._

Salima let out a squeal of happiness as she flung herself onto the bed she had so generously called hers'.

"This is the life girls!!!!" She exclaimed. They chuckled, and piled their bags into the humongous closet. Jemma quickly pulled out her pajamas and

pulled them on, falling back on her own bed. Mariam was singing a song under her breath,and rearranging her hair.

"Stupid wind..." She mumbled. Emily, who was too hyper to sit still, was running back and forth. With a quick swipe she pulled the hairbrush out of Mariam's hand and began to brush Mariam's hair herself, wriggling her hips and doing a little jig all the while. Mariam couldn't help but laugh at the girl's foolish antics. Mariah was brushing her teeth, and took two steps out of the bathroom before tumbling over a suitcase. More laughter filled the hollow institution.

"That was _SO_ not funny!" She muffled, white dripping from her lip as she scrambled to regain her posture.

"It _SO_ was." Hilary corrected her. The brunette was lounging on her own bed, lying on her stomach while scimming through the channels. "Oooooooh porno!"

They all laughed.

"GOD I am so happy we did this." Jemma said.

"Same! All that nonsense about Kai was _killing _me!" Salima said. The two laughed.

"But you're right Salima. I mean, ....Part of me can't believe he'd do that...... Right before Valentine's, too..." Jemma zoned out.

"Honestly; What an ASS!" Mariam said. They chuckled and nodded.

"But I loved him so much.... I would have done anything for him! I would've _killed_ for him!" Jemma said, looking down glumly. Hilary patted her shoulder.

"I know Jem, me too. _I would have died for him and more_. But we can't change the past. Only hope for the future..... Still........ I wasn't in love with Tyson ...I was devoted ...I was!" Mariah nodded her head.

"We all were. How could he say I was too clingy?! I was NOT too clingy!" Jemma began to chuckle.

"Well, you _did_ hang off him alot." Mariah huffed. "Just kidding!" The pinkette smiled.

"I know. But really. I wasn't!" Emily looked down.

"Am I pretty?" She looked at the faces of all her friends.

"YES!" They replied in unison.

"Don't let some dick like Kai get to you Emery!! He's full of shit. You have the most beautiful eyes ever!" Jemma mused, taking Emily's hand. The AllStar smiled.

"No, you do. Your eyes look like they were made from pure ice." Jemma blushed pale pink against her snow white skin.

"See see, there she goes flattering me again!" They laughed. All the girls moves to lie on one bed, which was Hilary's. "But seriously Emily; I love your eyes. It's like they're so devious... Like _people can never tell when you're lying_." Jemma smiled. This time Emily blushed.

"Ahhhh shucks." The atmosphere in the room was a calm, friendly and peaceful one. The one of independence. Salima smiled at it, and fell back with her hands behind her head.

"Hey... You guys don't think I'm too stuck up do you?... Just cause I wouldn't fuck him......" Salima looked to the side with embarrassed and shy eyes.

"Not at all."

"Nope."

"You have a right to your own privacy Salima. And if he broke it off with you just cuz you wouldn't go down on him, that's _his_ _loss_." They all agreed with Hilary's words of wisdom.

"And what the hell does 'coldness' mean to him?! IT'S FUCKING KAI HIWATARI!!! HE'S THE KING OF COLD!" Mariam blared, crossing her arms in a pissed off manner. More nodding heads.

"And I would NEVER say such cruel things about you guys!"

"We know you wouldn't Jem." Salima reassured. Jemma smiled as her thanks.

"But I know something I _would _do." The ice-eyed girl said, smirking evilly. The others looked at her, growing weary of the smirk. "......PILLOW FIGHT!"

Jemma leapt off the bed with pillow in hand and in seconds, Mariah got a face full of feathers. She screamed.

"You're **SO DEAD**!" They all laughed as they got ready for war.

Little did they know, a bigger one would start the next day.


	3. 5 Words To Choke Upon

Mariah, Salima, Jemma, Emily, Mariam and Hilary had fallen asleep soon after the largest pillow fight in hotel staff horror history. Feathers here, there, everywhere! Even as Salima slept, a solitary feather kept being pushed into the air by her gentle breath.

Something else the girls had not seen coming, was the blistering wind that had begun to thunder against the hotel. The hotel,... That was more like a resort... That was 10 miles away from town. Wind as forceful as a bulldozer beat the walls and surroundings around them. And to make matters worse, snow was falling. But not softly. The gusts had caught the heavy snowflakes, and sent them cutting the sky in jagged lines. Lines so thick and blinding it made it impossible to see an inch in front of your face.

Mariah turned onto her side in her messy bed, almost wishing to feel someone beside her. A large, muscled, form beside her...

Salima was in peace; But missed his kiss and careful caress.

Emily loved the way he gazed into her aquamarine pools, and even now, now and again she'd think someone was doing just that, like a ghostly stare.

Mariam lay in her bed, turned onto her side as Mariah but sleeping dreamless. Except for dreams of him, of course.

Hilary wasn't quite snoozing gently, but loudly. Large snoring rackets erupted from her lungs. Oh how she missed him... How he'd nudge her in the ribs to tell her to kindly shut up. Jemma used to sit by and laugh when Hilary snored, and sooner or later she'd feel her gentle hand

shaking her. And now that she thought about it,....

* * *

Jemma strolled down the corridor, lightly bouncing the can of Pepsi she had in her hand and humming a happy tune. She had went to the front desk for refreshments for the others, but no one was there.

And now that the thought had struck her,.. Jemma had been strolling the corridors now for about 15 minutes, and she had seen no one... Heard... Nothing.... Except the constant rattle of the wind and the battering of the snow. The girl batted her hair out of her eye into it's original place. Jemma looked to be the most dreary thing, decked out in her white tank and black jeans with a spiked belt, in that hallway.

'Weird,' she thought, 'No one in a deluxe hotel... No staff.... At 12:00 in the daytime....' Jemma stopped then and listened hard for voices or sounds that might signal other human inhabitation. There was none. She gulped. She'd better check the hotel before she jumped to conclusions. But besides the hotel situation, there were other things on the girl's mind.

_**Kai.**_

Jemma missed how he used to cheer for her and only her... She even missed watching him with the others. How he was so gentle with Salima. How he was so carefree with Mariam, and so supporting with Emily... So close to Mariah, and so trusting of Hilary. How he was all of those things, _with her_... Jemma pushed the thought out of her head as she went about trying to find someone.

* * *

"You mean _none _of us were awake to see where she went?" Hilary said as she sat up in bed. "I've been awake for awhile, but I didn't hear her get up."

"What if something happened???" Salima said, twisting her hands together in her lap. Mariam chuckled.

"She's gone to get some dinner or something. She's fine."

"But Mariam, she would've woken one of us and told us!! You know how Jemma is!! What if something bad actually _did_ happen to her?!" Mariah gulped, peering out the frosted window to the grey blankness that was the storm. "She better not have went outside!! It's so bad out..." Mariam sighed.

"I said don't worry about it."

And at that moment, the fancy gold plated door to their hotel room whooshed open and Jemma stepped in looking slightly agitated.

"Jemma!!! We were so worried!!" Mariah said, zooming over and giving her friend a hug. Jemma smiled weakly.

"I _am_ worried Mariah."

"I tried to tell her not to worry-Wait, why?" Mariam said, cocking an eyebrow while cracking a stick of bubble gum.

"The hotel's deserted." Jemma said bluntly. Mariam nodded slowly.

"That's kinda the idea of renting it out all to ourselves..." The bluenette started. But Jemma shook her head, her black straight waves bouncing cutely against her shoulders.

"No staff. No nothing. I checked the WHOLE hotel." She said, turning her attention to the can of soda in her hand and opening it. Mariah and Salima looked at eachother nervously. Why in the world would the whole hotel be deserted?

"You're joking...... Right?" Salima said, almost nodding her head to convince herself that Jemma was indeed lying. But no. Jemma shook her head and took a sip of cola.

_**"Serious as a heart attack."**_

**Jemma:**'Serious as a heart attack.' God I love that. Don't you??? Ah well, do as you always do, review!

* * *


	4. Red Upon The Snow

"What?! How can that be???? It's not possible!!" Salima said, her normally peaceful features twisted in fear and amazement. Jemma shrugged.

"I searched it all. Kitchen, balcony, lobby, I even knocked on the doors of rooms!! There's _no one_ here!" Mariam looked down in thought. Well this was a sticky situation... It wasn't part of the bargain made with the hotel to run off and leave them on their own! How would they eat? How would they get help if the storm gets any worse?

And the last one just happened.

Emily jumped a bit as a violent gust of wind rattled the windows next to her. The glass was so frozen with snow that you couldn't see through it. It was like stretching a ball of cotton, and trying to pick sense of the picture on the other side. Heaving wind battered the hotel from all sides, and the snow and temperature was _sure _to make it impossible to drive. Not to mention walk! A person would freeze where they stood out there...

Hilary looked around nervously, her mind trying to push out the thought of the frozen hotel staff, standing,alone, on this horrible night. She too jumped a bit when she felt Jemma's warm hand on her shaking shoulder.

"It's going to be okay. I bet they're okay too. They would be out of their minds to go out on a day like this." Jemma reassured the girl. Hilary smiled weakly and nodded, but her eyes remained on the frozen glass of the windows. Jemma sighed and walked over to the thermostat, turning it up." A few extra degrees won't hurt."

"Well,... What do we do?" Mariah asked the question that weighed heavily on their minds. Jemma sighed and lied down on a bed, staring up at the ghostly white ceiling with it's gold trim. They could try to walk somewhere for help... No, the hotel was at least 3 miles out of town... They could... Rob the place blind?

Tempting.

But no, they needed something to keep them alive. Yeah, thinking about dying already was pretty brash. But no one knew what could be coming or what could happen. If Jemma saw fit ,they should be prepared. Honestly, who knows how long the storm will last? Who knows where the staff went?

_Do or die._

"We fend for ourselves." The girls turned their eyes to Mariam, who was sitting with her denim-clad knees bent against her chest. "We all need to pull together. Then we should be okay." Everyone nodded. Mariah nodded slowly, crossing her arms.

"Okayyy.... What did you have in mind?" Mariam opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it again before sighing.

"I'm not sure." Jemma sat up again.

"But I am. I'm going to go try the phones and see if I can get a call through. Mariah, I want you to go to the laundry room and get some extra blankets and pillows, stuff to keep us warm. "The pinkette nodded surely this time, while the others waited for their call of duty. "Mariam, can you go to the kitchen and bring us back some food? I'm sure they must have enough to last us at least a week." Mariam nodded.

"And if I don't find any....?"

"Then smash a vending machine." They all chuckled. The first shot of laughter that morning. It brought warmth to them, when the hotel's creepy aura seemed to bring fear.. Death. Jemma continued. "Anyhow, Salima, I want you to recheck everything. I didn't check the upstairs rooms, just the bottom ones while I got my Pepsi. Can you do the rooms a few corridors down from this one?" The redhead nodded, glancing wearily to the door.

"I can,... But I don't like going around this place alone..." Jemma smiled weakly at her.

"It'll be okay. No one's going to hurt you." Salima smiled weakly.

"Thanks Jem."

"No problem. Emily, since we'll all be gone, and we're all stupid, I suggest you go get the extra room keys. One of us is bound to lose one some time." Emily chuckled. Jemma looked up in thought. "Uhhhh... Hilary... Hmm....Oh! Can you go out on the balcony for a few minutes and try to get a signal with your cell? It'll be cold, but it's only for a few minutes." Hilary didn't look exactly pleased, but pulled her Chocolate-colored cell phone out of the pocket on her skirt anyway and nodded her head. Jemma nodded her thanks. "Well... I guess we've got it covered. Let's go." The girls nodded, and those who weren't dressed got dressed. Hilary, Jemma and Mariam went about their business while Mariah pulled on some pink comfy gym pants in tune with a pink sweater, and too set off. Emily huddled in gym pants in dark blue, but opted for a bright orange turtle neck. Salima chose a red tee and metallic jeans from her suitcase. Then the last two went their separate ways.

* * *

Jemma picked up the receiver of the phone downstairs at the back of one of the corridors. Dial tone. Just a straight dial tone.

..................................................................................................

She hung up the phone after clicking the piece to start a new call several times. Jemma looked at the phone evilly. 'How wonderful....', she thought sarcastically, '_this seems like something right out of a horror movie._' The girl sighed and jogged upstairs using the long way, and slid to a stop when she reached the second phone. She was almost scared now to raise the phone to her ear. But she did it anyway.

..................................................................................................

Jemma slammed the phone down and walked away.

* * *

Mariah squeaked as she tripped and fell in a pile of crisp white sheets. She poked her head out from under the bundle and blew a fabric softener sheet off her nose. With a groan of tiredness, she untangled herself from the mass and gathered them as neatly as she could into her arms then

left the laundry room. _'These sheets would look much better in red_.... Or pink!' She cheerily thought as she skipped along.

* * *

Mariam dug around in the half a dozen refrigerators to try and get some sensible food. 'Pickled relish.... Ew....... Mayonnaise... Disgust! Um........ Ice cream? SCORE!' The bluenette smirked as she pulled the frozen tub out of the refrigerator and left the vacant kitchen, letting the swinging door come to a halt as she walked away. With one arm handling the ice cream tub, she used her other to rub some warmth into it. 'Geeze it's so cold... Even the vibe this place gives off is cold... _Someone's going to catch their death here_!' She silently scolded the hotel staff in her mind for not using a better heating system, then continued on her way.

* * *

Emily grumbled as she leant over the lobby desk, her legs dangling in the air as to not completely plummet to the floor behind the gold-plated structure. Too bad the AllStar wasn't so lucky. With a gasp, she tumbled heels over head to the floor, both her hands leaving the drawers, and not concentrating on feeling around for her glasses. She growled. 'Damn room keys... Damn IT ALL!' She yelled in her head. Then, her hands found the drawer of 2342. Their room. Emily smirked triumphantly, and brought the box close to her face so she could read the numbers without her glasses. Yes, it was 2342..... But the drawer was empty. Emily gulped. 'GREAT! _Now even a serial killer could have a key to our room_!!!' She growled, and went to get up. She heard a crack. Emily gulped again, and looked down under her foot. 'Not my glasses....'

* * *

Salima jogged lightly through the hallways.

"Hello?" She called out. "Anybody there?!" No answer. No answer to any call or sound she made, except the rapid beating of her own scared heart and the light thumping of her own feet. As she ran by doors, the redhead knocked a few times, then stopped when she was a few doors ahead to see if anyone had poked their heads out as an answer. No one did. She groaned and stopped, bent over with her hands on her knees, letting out easy breaths. It was eerie... She knew there was nothing to run from, but then,.... Why did she find it impossible to stop? Seconds passed and Salima began jogging again. 'I hate this..... It feels like someone's watching,.. No, _chasing_ me.....' The girl soon finished her duty and exited the corridor.

* * *

Hilary shivered uncontrollably as she tried to hide her nimble frame from the blowing snow and the cruel cutting wind. But it wasn't so easy. The harsh blizzard bit into her uncovered legs and turned her tan skin a blood red. Her cell to her ear, she kept trying to place a call to the police, the fire department, anyone! She gulped though, when she pulled the phone back and the lighted screen read;

'_Searching for signal_.' She growled.

"Come on dammit!" She tried again. No use. She sighed into the freezing air, and turned to go back inside, hoping she'd find her way. The clouded glass of the windows didn't lie; It was so windy and blind thick outside Hilary thought she'd walk the wrong way and fall right off the balcony. But a sound soon interrupted her thoughts. She turned and squinted through the snow, then smiled.

"Hey!"

"Hey." The figure replied, taking a few steps closer. Hilary took a few steps closer too, her cell still open in her hand.

"I can't get a signal." Hilary huffed. The figure crossed her arms.

"Well that's not good enough is it?" Hilary cocked an eyebrow as the figure stepped closer again. And then it buried a butcher knife into the brunette's stomach.

Hilary gasped in pain, and forced her head to look down. She could see the figure's hand jolt backwards, pulling the knife out. Hilary fell to her knees on the snowy balcony, but her eyes didn't leave her killer's.

".....W-Why?" Was all Hilary could muster before the figure began to stab her repeatedly. Blood bounced across the snow, and when she was done, the figure tucked the knife into the back of his/her pants and simply walked away. Her own fluid leaked from her mouth as Hilary reached an arm out for the balcony door, still open a quarter of the way. Hilary stretched all she could, dropped her cell, and placed her hand on the door. It slid down a second later as the girl lay lifeless in the snow.


	5. Alone

After a few minutes of navigating the confusing halls of Marmont Hotel, 5 girls managed to find the way back to their room.

5.

Once the door of room 2342 opened and closed again for Emily to walk in right after Jemma had, all were wondering where Hilary could be.

"You don't think she locked herself outdoors, do you??" Salima feared, her violet orbs scanning the horrors of the night time outside. All of the time they had spent wandering and looking for help through that maze has taken it's toll. It was 6:30 in the afternoon, but the storm outside made the sky all the more darker.

"I hope not...." Emily worried, pacing the room in thought. "....But maybe we're overreacting. I bet she'll walk in through that door any second!" She said hopefully. None were feeling to hopeful.

"The phonelines are dead." Everyone's eyes almost widened in stride as they turned to Jemma, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, a stern look on her pale features. "You heard me. I checked both phones. Just a flat-rate dial tone." The girls gulped. Emily sighed deeply.

"I couldn't find the spare room keys." The girl also, was now looking out through a set of cracked glasses. If the mood wasn't so cold, perhaps one of the girls might of even asked her how it happened.

"We're going to have to live off ice cream until the storm blows over." More deep sighs. But Mariah's golden pools were watching the door with intent, hoping to see the brass door knob turn and a familiar smiling face stroll in. She waited.

_And she waited._

But no one did.

Mariah got off her pile of blankets that she had flung to the floor and headed for the door.

"I'm going to look for Hilary, to see if she got any signal on her cell. Who's coming with?" All the girls eagerly agreed and took their room keys, shutting the door behind them.

"Hilary was trying for a cell signal, so that must mean she's out on the balcony." Mariam stated. Salima gasped.

"That means she really could be locked outside!" It didn't take long for the redhaired girl to resume running, like she had while checking the rest of the rooms. Running fast. Running fearfully. _Running for her life_. But no threat pursued her..

Salima turned the corner at the bottom of the corridor staircase as the group lost sight of her, already knowing she was heading to the balcony. Weirdly, they all quickened their steps too. No one knew why; No one dared ask, but they lightly jogged down the steeping staircase. And as they reached the bottom step of the porcelain walk, they heard a gut-wrenching scream.

The five bolted.

"Salima?!" They called out in anguish, sliding around the tight corner and then another slide to a stop as they reached the clear glass door of the balcony. It was open; Swinging in the wind almost eerily. Scarily. But what was really scary was the red handprint on the door... The **bloody** hand print on the door. And below it, sprawled in the snow, ..Was Hilary.

Lifeless.

Not moving.

Cold.

Pale.

_Dead._

The poor girl was lying on her stomach, her empty eyes staring out into space, her mouth slightly agape. Red had littered the snow, but it was hard to make out against the stronger blowing winds and drifts of snow. Which, had begun to cover Hilary's lifeless form. Her skin was no longer it's healthy shade... But pale; Yet only in some places. Others, were as red as the handprint on the door, and the splotches on the snow. Hilary's cell phone was a still glowing object, open, lying by Hilary's cold hand. The silver screen was dull, and hard to see. But of course, none of the girls who were now standing by in shock could, or bothered, to identify it half covered in snow.

Their stomachs tightened to unbelievably painful knots as 5 pairs of eyes struggled to stare at the last pair, so numb. Salima was on her knees on the snowy balcony, a shaking hand tempting to touch her friend's body.

No, **corpse**.

"She's dead..." The girl said, eyes already heavy with tears. Mariah made a gag as she turned away from the terrifying sight. Mariam gulped as her emerald orbs scanned the scene.

'No..... No......' Her mind continued to register the word, as if trying to reject the image in front of her, like it was all some fictional story. Well, she wished...

Jemma took a deep breath, and took two steps forward so that she too was staring down at Hilary's body. Her reassuring hand was layed on Salima's shoulder, and Jemma could feel the shaking vibrations from Salima's nervous body. The icy eyes of the girl were still staring down at Hilary, while her hand was on Salima's shoulder.

'Stab wounds......'

"Get back to the room." Jemma pulled Salima to her feet, almost roughly. But at the moment she all but cared. "Now." Salima, Emily, Mariah and Mariam didn't have to be told twice. The four turned and ran back into the hotel. Jemma fell to her knees and felt in Hilary's pockets for her room key.

As soon as Jemma flew back into the room with the others and slammed the door behind her, the screaming began.

"WHO WOULD DO THIS TO HER?!"

"WELL IT WASN'T ME!"

"SOMEONE ELSE HAS TO BE IN THIS HOTEL!" It was complete and total anarchy, as tears rolled from scared eyes, and images of their dear friend meeting her gruesome end.

Salima was crying hysterically, sitting on Mariam's bed with her hands scrunched in her lap.

"We're all gonna die. All of us." Mariah looked at Salima with a shaking heart, but positive outlook against the dreary situation.

"No! Don't say that!! We're going to make it through this!! For all we know, Hilary could have gotten someone over the phone!" The pinkette said, Salima's arms in her grasp and shaking her gently, as if to force the thought into settling dormantly into the Phykicks' head. But it did little to settle Salima's droning cries. Emily was pacing the room, her hands entangled in her strawberry blonde locks.

"What are we gonna do?! She was STABBED! We all saw it! Whoever killed Hilary is coming for us next! We're all gonna die here!" Emily yelled, finding it impossible to stop herself from pacing and crying. Mariam grit her teeth.

"Shut. Up." The SaintShield's words were hard, cruel. But easily understandable. Emily bit her tongue and looked at Mariam, fear in her teal orbs. "Why don't you cry a little louder? So then the fucking murderer can hear you and come for us!" Mariam cursed. But the warning only caused another barrage of tears to start falling from Emily's eyes.

"Ohhh God... Oh God...." She kept repeating. Mariam brought her knees to her chest, hugging them tight against her. But her angry eyes suggested little fear and more anger.

"I said, SHUT. UP. Besides; he can't get in here anyway. The room door is locked."

The _room._

Jemma's eyes widened and she jumped to her feet from the bed and ran to the closet. They watched her with fearful eyes. They all knew why; They were just glad that they didn't have to be the one to check.

Honestly; Every child fears that there might be a monster under the bed or in the closet. Especially at night. Especially when they're alone. While monsters can come in the form of basically anything that frightens.

Jemma's shaking hands grasped the golden handles, as she took a deep breath and prepared to pull open the closet doors. The closet was large; They knew, and it had plenty of places to hide. In the dark corners, ...Shadowy spots... It seemed darkness was never far away from what the eye can see. Another deep breath. And Jemma pulled the doors open quickly, then ducked behind for the inevitable to leap out at her and tear her to shreds. Perhaps with a knife. Perhaps with fangs. Anything, after all, that could frighten. _A real monster._

But there came no one. There came nothing. The black-haired girl sighed in relief at the sight of a now-lighted closet, and an empty one at that. But the beds they slept on were high ...Jemma turned, and her eyes looked to the plush carpeting with the sheets of the bed resting on it. The sheets were a pure, cotton snow white. Thick. They could not be seen through. From the outside and void of the darkness, of course. Jemma gulped, and shakily lowered herself to her stomach. Looking up at Salima who was sitting on the bed next to the one she was about to check, she pointed up with her finger. Salima did the same so that Mariah could understand also. The pinkette was sitting on the table, between two beds. And her hand grasped both sheets. Salima's hand grasped hers'. Jemma nodded, and mouthed 'On one.'

'Three.'

'Two.'

_'One.'_

All three girls pulled up the bedsheets, so that Jemma could have a clear view under most of the beds at the same time. And the coast was clear. Another sigh of relief lifted from Jemma's throat. After the other two beds were checked for the lurking monsters that might be underneath, Jemma sat on top of her own.

"I don't know what to do... We could go out looking, but..."

"But what?" Mariah said, looking at Jemma impatiently with her tanned hands at her waist. "I say we go. We need to find whoever did this to Hilary."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! NO ONE'S GOING OUT THERE!!" Salima screamed, still with red eyes and resisting the urge to shake some sense into Mariah and Jemma.

"Salima calm-"

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN EMILY!" She barked at the AllStar. Emily could've stumbled back straight into Mariam's lap at the furious look in her friend's eyes. Sure, it was okay to be scared right now, but this was just ridiculous...

Mariam sighed and pushed herself out of the red laced chair, walked over to Salima straight up, and slapped her across the face. Salima stopped weaning almost immediately, and brought a hand to the swelling red print that Mariam had left on her cheek. Her big violet eyes were still filled to the brim with tears, but they weren't falling.

"Get a grip. We need to go look. Salima, all of us will be together, nothing will happen-"

"NO!" Of course, slaps don't usually have permanent affects. Mariam rolled her jade eyes and went back to sitting by the window in her chair.

"She won't listen to common sense. And since she's being stupid, she, in my opinion, deserves to get gutted." The blue-haired SaintShield said.

"Mariam!" Mariah snapped. "Stop being such a bitch!" Jemma nodded, but was standing by the door.

"Salima, if you want to stay here, we'll go and-" Jemma stopped her speech. And she started to think.

'When I checked, Hilary didn't have her cardkey... So... Salima's not safe in this room all by herself... But she'll slow us down and make too much noise when she's sniveling like that... We have no choice... She stays.' Jemma sighed. "You stay here Salima with the door locked, and we'll go search." Salima gulped and scanned the others with her eyes, who too were heading for the door.

"A-Alone?" Her scared voice squeaked out. They nodded.

"You'll be okay. We're the only ones with cardkeys, remember? And we checked the room. No one's here. You'll be fine." Emily reassured. To Salima, going out PERIOD, was a bad idea. But leaving her alone with no protection? That was just wrong.

"Yeah... Sure... But can I at least have a knife or something? Just to keep here with me?" The girls looked at eachother and nodded.

"Well Salima we don't have one here right now, but one of us is bound to cross the café. When they do, they'll duck in and grab a few knives and bring back to the room for you, and for the rest of us." Jemma said, a certain smile on her face. Salima herself smiled weakly and nodded. "Now, if any of us hear a scream, run for it. For the scream, I mean. No one should be left in danger here."

'No one should be left in danger? Ha, that's a good one...' Salima tossed around in her head. But the girls nodded.

"Now Salima, we're the only ones with cardkeys. But just to make sure, while we're putting in our card key, we'll knock at the same time so you know it's one of us." Salima nodded her head.

'Easy enough to understand..' But Jemma came over one last time before leaving with the others and sat on the bed next to Salima, and took her hand with a sincere smile.

"It'll be okay. You'll be okay." Salima forced another weak smile, and hugged Jemma tightly. Jemma hugged back and rubbed the redhead's back. "Everything will be okay in the end. It always is." And the scared girl nodded again as Jemma got up and left with the others.

_'Some bloody Valentine's Day....'_ Salima cursed,_ 'what a holiday this turned out to be.'_


	6. Don't Come Knocking

Salima sat on the bed, continuing to stare around the small closed space insecurely. There were actually a lot of places to hide in there...

The closet...

The drapes...

Under the beds...

In the shower...

The toilet... Well, maybe not the toilet; That would be really gross. Even for a killer's stature. But the redhead wasn't about to totally dismiss the thought.

Perhaps she should've went with all the others? It was really creepy being all alone... With a murderer stalking around somewhere.. Who would do such a thing?! Who would kill poor Hilary?! Salima gulped at the thought of a masked man walking silently down the halls in a black cloak, creeping around corners with that mad, obsessed look in his eyes under the cover of face. A large butcher knife, dripping with Hilary's blood as he walked slowly, looking for his next victim.

And the next thing the poor girl conjured in her imaginative head _was_ the victim. A girl, about 5'1, with fiery hair and eyes the color of water lilies. She was running, glancing over her shoulder constantly, watching as her pursuer just kept walking... Just, walking... While she ran for every hope in her body to save her life! Salima pictured the girl speeding up dramatically, then stopping when she was a few corridors ahead so she could take a breather. And then Salima pictured herself; turning from the breather, only to find the masked murderer staring her right in the face. She'd stumble backwards, and that would be all the time he needed to take a swipe at her. He'd miss; And she'd get back on her feet and run again! And as she was running, it seemed like the hallways grew longer in length, and the walls became curved and towering as if to beckon her to stop; but she couldn't! Not if she wanted to live!

So she didn't. And finally, Salima saw herself make it back to her room, slide the cardkey in with a shaking hand and run inside, slamming the door shut. And two seconds later Salima would hear the banging of his angry, annoyed fists as he tried to get in. And Salima just sat on the bed, like she was now, waiting for the inevitable. But the pounding faded eventually, until there was nothing. Time travels fast in one's mind, so Salima imagined herself waiting to be sliced and diced for about half an hour, even though he was no longer heard at the door. The girl almost screamed in reality when there came a slow, knock, ..Knock, ..Knock.. At her hotel room door.

Was she imagining it? No... No she wasn't! Someone was knocking on the door!

Possibly... Yes! It was her friends! Salima almost jumped for joy and bolted off the bed, until.. The knocking started again. Slower.

Knock...... Knock...... Knock......

The girl gulped. Here, she was trapped.

Here, she had nowhere to run.

"Who-Who's there????" Salima's scared voice cut in. No answer. Except more knocking.

Knock... Knock... Knock.

"Answer me!" The girl almost screamed. And her reply was knocking. Faster.

Knock.. Knock.. Knock.

"I'm not letting you in unless you give me a name god dammit!"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Now that was enough to scare her. Her eyes widened slightly, and she expected herself to scream. But yet,... She didn't. It **must **be one of her friends! No one else heard that they would use knocking to gain access to the room! Salima gulped, and coaxed herself to get a small smile as she was about to walk closer, and open the door for the person who would take away her loneliness. Until another sound cut her thoughts.

A click.

The door................ It was......... OPENING!

Someone was using a card key to get in!

'SNAP OUT OF IT!' The girl's mind told her; 'THIS WASN'T HAPPENING!'

But it was. Salima stumbled backward, and fell flat against the bed, watching as the golden doorknob slowly turned.

And the door opened. Salima's eyes immediately flew to the object in the figure's hands..... Object. There was no object in the 'killer''s hands. So Salima sighed in relief.

"Why do you look so scared?" The person asked. Salima almost chuckled. "It's just me!" The person chuckled along with her.

Salima pushed herself up on her elbows on the bed, looking at the person with a relieved smile.

"That knocking thing you did scared the shit outta me! I thought it was the killer! I mean, you started slow and then you sped up! It was _so_ not nice!" Salima exclaimed, wiping a few beads of sweat off her drenched forehead. The person before her chuckled. Almost evilly. But Salima payed no attention. "I REALLY thought you were the killer! The one who murdered Hilary!"

That was when the face of the person curved into such a sinister smirk it made Salima's blood run cold.

"How do you know I'm not?"

Then he leaped. The killer grabbed Salima by both her wrists, and the startled girl was about to let out a shrill scream when the other of the killer's hands clamped itself over her mouth. She continued to struggle, thrashing her captive arms and waving her legs, trying to aim a direct kick into the stomach of her attacker. But every attempt failed miserably, and the murderer laughed hysterically at her sorried victim's attempts to defend herself. So he/she applied more pressure on Salima's mouth and jaw while he/she released the Phykick's arms long enough to reach behind and pull the sharpened blade out of it's hiding place inside the killer's pants.

Upon the sight of the knife, two lavender eyes screamed out unbelievable terror, and Salima's newly freed fingernails dug and tore at the hand holding her jaw. But her short fingernails didn't even leave a mark or a scratch. Tears were already falling, and here she was, now, like in her vision.. But she couldn't run. _There was nowhere to run!_

"It'll be okay Salima. Hilary will keep you company."

The knife dug into Salima's tender flesh, and with skillful movements of a murderous hand, the blood-ridden blade tore down through Salima's stomach like a merchant gutted a fish. Blood spattered the bed, the white sheets never to be clean again. As pain shot through Salima's body, she could feel the mattress underneath her growing wet, and her vision dimming to black. Nothing else remained but pain and a slow, retched breathing.

Then, truly nothing.

The villain smirked as he withdrew the knife from the lifeless flesh. The lavender eyes were staring wide into space; Into nothing like her orbs revealed. Salima's face was dead, twisted into a look of unimaginable horror and bewilderment. The killer shook their head pitifully and clicked their tongue as if to scold the dead girl.

"Such a shame; You probably would've been a good fuck after all." Five minutes later the door closed, leaving the poor dead girl all alone again.


	7. One By One

Mariah, Emily, Jemma and Mariam trudged back through their corridors. Nearly at the same time they all met at the main hallway leading to their room.

"I hope Salima's okay... She was really scared." Jemma said as they rounded the corner. The other three nodded in agreement.

"But you know, Salima's a wuss.." Mariam said, slipping her cardkey into the slot and waiting for the small dark light to flicker green.

"Mariam that's a sin for you! You know how Salima can be." Mariah scolded, walking in while Mariam huffed and held the door. And the first thing Mariah saw made her stomach turn inside out.

The pink-haired girl screamed loudly, and the other three rushed in.

"MARIAH WHAT'S........ Wrong..?.......... Oh my god....." Jemma covered her mouth in shock. Emily gagged. Mariam just stared.

"Salima......" The bluenette uttered, letting the door swing to a close behind her.

The poor girl was still lying on the bed, splayed out with her chest torn vertically, and insides visible through the massacred flesh. Salima. Her face was agape; Twisted into unimaginable horror.

Mariah covered her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks. The girl reached a hand out, and touched Salima's. The skin was cold. So cold... So..

_Dead._

Emily gritted her teeth and looked around the room, trying to push the horrible sight away. There was no blood on the floor....

Salima hadn't been moved. So she was killed right where she lay... That must mean...

Emily's eyes widened as she bolted over to Salima and reached her hand into the girl's blood soaked pocket. Emily gasped at the emptiness.

"Her cardkey is gone...." Emily muttered.

"What?" Jemma leant in a little farther just to catch the awestruck girl's words.

"HER CARDKEY IS GONE!" Emily yelled. Jemma went slight wide-eyed. Mariam gulped. Mariah looked around in worry, just hoping to see the key resting on the table or, on the bed, or, somewhere! But it wasn't. The key was nowhere. Mariah squeezed her eyes shut, thinking about all the good times they'd had. Times that had ended.

"..........What if the killer has them?" All eyes turned to Jemma. "I mean it... I.. I checked for Hilary's cardkey..... She didn't have it."

"And there were no cardkeys at the front desk either.." Emily stressed. "........That evil bastard can get into this room no problem...." Tension was building, and so was hysteric fright. What a great holiday this turned out to be....

Then Jemma and Mariam looked at eachother.

"Maybe _SHE _was already in this room." This time all eyes were on Jemma and Mariam.

"........What did you mean by that???" Mariah asked offensively.

"I mean what I meant." Mariam said harshly. "No one knows. It could be one of us." Jemma sighed deeply.

"She could be right." The pale-skinned girl walked over to Salima, and took the edge of the blankets that she wasn't lying on, twisted into a heap. With a quick flick of the arm, she pulled them over Salima's desolate body. And something clattered to the floor.

Jemma cocked an eyebrow and looked down. And when she did, her ice-blue orbs widened at the sight. Mariah too was now staring at the object as well, shock and fear plastered all over her normally joyful features. Emily was just looking at it, trying to force her heart back down her throat. Mariam gulped at it.

There, lying on the floor after being shaken free from the blankets, was a bloody butcher knife.

The knife that had killed Salima.

"Oh God....." Emily preached, as she bent shakily, nearly falling forward, and gripping the cold steel. But it wasn't that cold. It was... Slightly warm... "......Who did it?" Emily turned to everyone quickly. "It must be one of us!"

"Now let's not get all crazy-" Mariam started, but quickly ceased when Emily took two steps towards her.

"You know Mariam, it _was_ found in your bed..... And the first time we went out, you had to go to the kitchen, where all the knives were..." Emily looked as if she could continue on as well.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me! When I checked the kitchen, there were no knives! I swear!" The girl held her hands up in defence, actually starting to look a little scared at being the blame. But Emily shook her head, and looked at Jemma and Mariah. There was a fair amount of sweat on the brow of every girl, despite the room's cool temperature. Tensions were even higher now, and Jemma and Mariah didn't know what to do. So, ..They went along with Emily.

"What were you doing checking for knives anyways Mariam??" Emily questioned, her grip on the handle of the butcher knife tightening slightly.

"In case we needed one!!" Mariam barked. "You know damn well I would never do anything to hurt Salima! Or Hilary!" The SaintShield insisted.

"I don't believe you." Emily said. "I really don't. Mariam maybe you should go outside."

"......What?" Mariam stuttered. The scared emerald-eyed girl looked at Jemma and Mariah accusingly, as if to bully them into defending her. But Jemma's icy gaze was on the floor, and Mariah didn't look too happy to utter a word. "Please Emily, reconsider. Besides.. You can't make me." Mariam gulped and was determined to hold her ground. But Emily glared at her evilly.

"Oh yes, I can. Get out Mariam. Now." Emily even went as far as to advance a few steps closer to the bluenette, the knife in a pointed spear position in front of her. Mariah turned to look at the fright in Mariam's eyes, but she couldn't deny the facts. Everything so far pointed to her... Everything...

"Mariam... Just do it... Leave your cardkey in here. And one of us will be awake and by the door at all times, just in case we're wrong. No one else is dying here..!" Mariah said. Even Jemma looked at the girl over her sudden outburst of words. Emily nodded. But Mariam took a steps backwards, shaking her head.

"No. He'll get me out there! You know he will! Jemma! Jemma tell them it's not me!!" Mariam grabbed Jemma's hand in both of hers', and the black-haired girl could feel Mariam shaking. "Please, Jemma. Tell them." Jemma just looked Mariam in the eyes.

"...Sorry Mariam... Let me go, please.." Jemma's cold words stung Mariam's soul and the scared girl dropped Mariam's hand.

"You bastards are really going to make me go out there? Fine. But I'm dead fucking serious; It's not me." And Mariam walked out of the room, and slammed the hotel room door herself.

"Mariam!" Emily called out. "Don't go too far! Stay by the door. Just in case... Just in case it's not you." Emily's voice hushed when she said the last few words. Everything evidence wise pointed to Mariam. The AllStar's mind was in turmoil. She didn't want to believe that Mariam was a killer... She didn't want to believe that _any_ of them was a killer... But she did. Emily believed it. One of them was cold-hearted enough to kill Hilary and Salima. Murder them in cold blood. And now, they were stuck here! All alone... Alone with a killer.

The girls could hear Mariam's soft sobs outside the door. Jemma was almost becoming skeptic to Emily's theory. If Mariam was a killer, she certainly wouldn't be able to cry... But then again, Mariam was an actress... Jemma didn't know what to believe.

Just like Emily.

Just like Mariah.

And now, they were blaming one of their own for mass murders. Mariam was still standing outside the hotel room door, in the lonely corridor that probably a killer was stalking down, crying. It hurt their hearts deeply. _But what was being heartbroken compared to being gutted?_


	8. Nothing

The hours seemed to tick by. But strangely, it wasn't hours. Just minutes. Barely enough for half an hour.

Mariah and Emily were sitting on one of the beds, huddled together with their knees pulled tight to their chests. All the eyes that had once before shone with excitement for a fun filled holiday together were now dull, and had the look of unpolished glass. Jemma was just sitting at the table,

with her head lying on her arms. The knife was on the table too, and Jemma kept her uneasy gaze on it. She watched as a solitary drop of scarlet fell from the hovering blade, and splattered onto the table top. She blinked. Then she blinked again. This was unbelievable... This shit just didn't happen to normal people! Not outside the movie theater! But, here they were...

Silence was hanging thick in the tense room, but Mariah noticed a sound missing. Sure it was silent in their room, but weren't Mariam's cries being heard just a few minutes before...? Mariah lifted her head from her knees, and slowly turned her gaze toward the golden Oakwood door. It was silent out there, too...

"Uh.. Guys?" Mariah's shaky voice said. Emily and Jemma turned to her. "Mariam's not crying anymore..."

"....So?" Emily asked. "That doesn't mean anything." Emily turned to the door as well. "Hey, Mariam!" Emily called out, pushing her broken glasses farther up on her nose.

But Mariam didn't answer. Emily and Mariah exchanged glances, while Jemma narrowed her eyes and got to her feet, taking two careful steps towards the door.

".....Mariam?!" Emily called out again.

And; No answer.

Jemma gulped and walked all the way across the crimson carpet to the golden door.

"Be careful Jemma." Mariah said, worry clear in her voice. Both Emily and Mariah had long prepared for the murderer to make their way in. Both had the knife firmly planted in their gaze. And weren't about to tear it away.

Jemma tried to force a nervous lump down her throat as she extended her pale arm, and let it rest on the shimmering door knob. Thoughts were racing through her tense mind. What was behind that door?? What if it was the killer?! She'd probably open the door,and he'd be ready and waiting.. Mariam... What if he had her?! Jemma nearly sighed aloud. She didn't really believe it was Mariam.. She didn't believe it at all, actually. But, so... If the killer was out there, ...Had she helped send her best friend to her death...?

And the thoughts were pushed out of her head when Jemma gripped the cold steel, and just swung open the door.

And what she saw terrified her.

Nothing. Nothing at all. No Mariam. No body. No blood. No killer. No knife. Just _plain... Empty... Eerie..._ Hallway. Jemma took a sharp intake of breath.

"Jem??? Jemma are you okay???" Mariah called ,concerned. Jemma nodded slowly at first, attempting to well her beating heart back down her throat. Now that she considered it, that was probably the nervous lump she'd had just a few seconds ago. Great. She gets scared and barfs up her heart. That was all they needed. Jemma sighed.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. But Mariam's gone." Emily and Mariah looked at eachother nervously again.

"Why would she be gone?? We told her to stay right there!" Emily near barked. Nor Mariah or Jemma could detect whether it was anger, or nervousness for them blaming her of why Mariam was probably dead somewhere. But it WAS her fault... Emily bit her lip. "I bet she went to get more knives or something, so she can come back and finish us off! After all, we have the knife she used on Hilary and Salima!"

Mariah looked down while Jemma looked up in thought.

"I think we should go look for her." That turned both Mariah's and Emily's attention to Jemma's thinking face quite quickly. "You heard me, so don't even ask." But after a glance of worry between Emily and Mariah, they just couldn't help themselves.

"WHY IN THE WORLD-" Jemma slammed her hand over Mariah's mouth before she got the words out.

"What I just say?" Jemma said, accompanied with a deep sigh. "We're going to look. And we're going to split up." Mariah let out an audible growl and pushed Jemma's palm away from her mouth, canines poking out of her exasperated expression.

"No. I'm not going. Not this time." The pinkette said, hands now on her hips and a burning glare locked on Jemma's ice-like eyes.

"Well if you wanna stay and die it's fine by me." She retorted. Now that caused a change in Mariah's eyes from hate, right to being taken aback. Was refusing to go out on the move a sensible choice? She could just stay in the hotel room with the door locked... But no. The killer got in when Salima stayed, so there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to get in when she did...

Mariah gave a deep sigh.

"We all leave, lock the hotel room door.... The knife stays here." Emily and Jemma cocked their eyebrows. Mariah turned her hips at an angle. "Just in case, ..You know.... It actually _is_ one of us..." Emily looked over at the stained steel knife still resting on the table. She gulped and walked over, picked it up gingerly and then placed it under the table. Interestingly, she took a roll of tape from her bag, picked up the knife again, and taped it to the bottom of the wooden table.

"There. It should be safe now." The AllStar said.

"Then, let's go." Jemma said, turning and walking out into the quiet hallway. Emily gulped, now experiencing much the similar lump in her throat that Jemma had earlier. Mariah let out a deep breath before stalking out the door after Jemma, Emily following suit.

"I really don't think it's a good idea to split up, Jemma..." Emily muttered. Jemma sighed.

"I do. We want the best chance for at least one of us making it out of here alive... And if we were wrong, and he's already got Mariam, then that's three teenage girls, weaponless, against a possible large male. We can't take chances." With that Jemma looked at them one last time, before turning left and walking down the hallway, and disappearing around a corner. Mariah took a deep breath, and hugged Emily tightly before moving straight ahead and taking the staircase up to the balconies where Hilary's body was. Emily took a deep breath as well, turning to the right, and walking down the corridor.

* * *

...Only a few minutes later, a figure returned to the room. The person slid a card key into the slot, and then stepped inside. The figure looked around the room, before kneeling by the table, and taking the knife from it's hiding place. Next, the person tore away the sheets that were covering Salima's stale body. The person looped his arms under Salima's, and pulled the bloody body from the bed. Over to the door, and out through it.

* * *

Mariah looked around the balcony with fright. No sign of anyone.

..Well, anyone still living. Mariah wretched as she took a step over Hilary's frozen body, and looked around again. Still nothing. Still no one. The pinkette almost heaved a sigh of relief, and turned around, leaving the balconies.

'..I guess I'll go find Jemma or Emily....' She thought, closing the doors and heading back down the small flight of stairs. Once she came to face her own room door again, Mariah looked right and left to decide which way was shorter. The girl just settled on Emily, her best friend, and began to walk down the right corridor. Thinking back over what she'd seen and checked, Mariah couldn't even pinpoint a place where Mariam, or the killer could hide. The girl sighed to herself and continued walking.

* * *

The figure watched Mariah trail down the corridor before sprinting up the stairs. And out onto the balcony. The figure let out a grunt as he/she struggled to pull Hilary's frosted body from the snow. The wind was cold, and bit at the killer's skin even through a warm sweater. But finally, success as the sound of tearing cloth and bones cracking was heard. Hilary's body begun to be dragged through the snow and down the stairs again, as Hilary's murderer headed for the basement.

* * *


	9. Sooner Or Later

**Jemma: **Another long awaited update lol. Review please!

* * *

The figure pulled open the basement door with a heavy sigh, dragging the dead brunette's body behind exhaustingly.

'At least Tyson will have one less thing to worry about.'

The person thought over everything that had happened, while taking a shaky step into the basement and lifting Hilary's limp corpse over it's shoulder to support the weight and handle the walk down the winding stairs to the large cellar.

Inside, lay a bloody Salima, and soon a dead Hilary as the form cursed lowly at the surprise of a near trip on the creaky stairs.

The person turned a corner, and over the small railing where the sight of Salima's body lying on the cold concrete could be seen, there was a low groan, and the mystery person heaved Hilary's body down to join her friend's.

Only to nearly choke as he spotted someone slowly making their way up the stairs.

".......You........"

"Me."

"............" The figure was silent, and reached into the back pocket of it's pants... Readying the knife taken from under the table in the hotel room.

".......Why?...???" The dark figure on the stairs began to back down them again, fear shining in her eyes. "I thought we were-"

The poor creature didn't get to say much more before the one perched with the knife made a lunge, and plunged the evil looking blade into the girl's chest. There was a scream.

The girl tried to pull the knife out, and even had trouble finding it in the dark and through her pain-fueled frustration.

She didn't want to know how much blood she was spilling. Or just what would happen next. As the two darkness-blind, pain-filled orbs looked up next the killer kicked out with a leg...

And there was a small gasp as the injured girl fell over the railing and sailed to the harsh concrete below.

A sickening sound;

Then nothing.

* * *

Mariah kept running down the hallway, banging on doors left and right.

"Emily?! Jemma?!" She called out, peering at every corridor she passed and still glancing behind her nervously at the same time.

Mariah just turned her head back forwards again when she ran into someone as they turned out from the corridor coming from the kitchen and the laundry rooms.

Jemma fell to the floor with a groan, but looking up quickly to make sure it wasn't the killer she'd run into.

Luckily, it was just Mariah.

"..Nice to know you watch where you're going..." Jemma winced, rubbing her scalp through her pretty black hair.

"...Sorry..." Mariah flinched, shakily getting to her feet.

Only to get 'tackled' down as Emily ran into the hallway from another corner and right _over _Jemma, causing the red head to trip and sail into the White Tiger.

Jemma groaned even louder as Emily and Mariah fell to the floor with a thud.

"Owwwwwwwww!" Mariah said loudly, this time it being her turn to rub her head.

"You two are _utterly _ridiculous!" Jemma said with a glare, running a hand down the side of her head where Emily's knee made hard contact.

They both shrugged.

"Anyhow..... Did.. Did you find her??" Mariah's voice quieted carefully, looking at her two remaining friends.

Emily and Jemma looked down, shaking their heads.

"I checked all upstairs and in the kitchen." Jemma said. "I didn't see her."

"I looked in the lobby again, the third and second floors." The redheaded AllStar muttered. "No sign either."

Mariah sighed deeply.

"And I checked the spa and I was on my way to check the balconies." Mariah finished.

"You don't think she just left, do you??" Emily asked, looking around nervously.

The wind suddenly gave a hard gust, and rattled the hotel violently.

"In this weather? Not a chance." Jemma said. "It would be a dumbass idea."

"Mariam was never one to follow the rules..." Mariah said lowly. Jemma sighed and stood up.

"I know my best friend. She wouldn't just leave." The ice-eyed girl said. Mariah and Emily exchanged looks worriedly, before the White Tiger brought her hand to her tanned cheek to wipe away a tear.

"..What did we do?????" She asked. Jemma just looked down at her. The poor girl... Emily watched Mariah sadly as well.

"..It's not our fault Mari....."

Mariah just looked down, wiping away more tears, before Emily took her hands and pulled her to her feet.

"Well... What now?" Emily asked no one in particular.

Jemma sighed deeply.

"I guess... I guess we keep looking. We'll go back and check the room, and we'll knock and bang on all the other doors too. Mariam might have ducked into another room or something." The raven-haired girl said, looking left and right down the corridors. The other two nodded.

"But I didn't get to check the balcony." Mariah said as she began to follow Jemma back towards their hotel room. Jemma and Emily stopped.

"Then before we head back to the room, it's closer so we'll check there first." Emily said. She and Jemma turned, and this time it was Mariah's turn to head back the way she originally was heading before she'd had a head-on collision with Jemma.

As the three girls pushed open the balcony glass doors, Jemma pulled her sweater tighter around her shoulders as did Emily, and poor Mariah certainly wished she'd brought her's instead of leaving it behind.

"Mariam?!" Emily called out. "Mariam, are you out here?!!"

"Mary!!!!!!!!!!!" Jemma screamed, looking around quickly, the unbarred coldness of the wind and the snow battering the three relentlessly as they searched for their friend.

But Mariam was nowhere to be found.

Actually, two people were nowhere to be found.

Mariah looked down to spot a bare patch of balcony floor... Where Hilary's frozen body had previously been lying.

In a split second, her eyes widened and she screamed. Jemma and Emily raced over as well, and all three stared in horror at the place where their dead friend once lay.

"Okay... Okay let's not overreact." Jemma said, stuttering.

"Are you _fucking kidding me?!_" Emily screamed. "She's _gone!_"

"That phycho must of moved her!!" Mariah shrieked.

"I said **calm **_down!_" Jemma spat. "For all we know, Hilary might not have been dead." Emily scoffed.

"Pretty fuckin unlikely!" Jemma sighed deeply, sending a last glance around the perimeter for her missing friend, before grabbing Mariah and Emily and dragging the two terrified girls back inside to the warmth of the hotel.

"...You know what?" Emily suddenly asked, pulling her arm from Jemma's grasp. Jemma turned to her, as did Mariah.

"What Emily?" The pinkette asked.

"..If this means anything,...." Emily said, "It only proves that Mariam's the killer!!"

"Huh?" Jemma asked. "I've lost you." Emily sighed.

"Listen; it's not just a coincidence that Mariam goes missing just when Hilary does? I bet she left the room because she knew she'd have the time then to stash the bodies!!" Emily hollered.

"Emily, would you _shut up!?_"

Both Emily and Jemma turned to Mariah in surprise. That was the biggest outburst from the pinkette girl all night.

"Stop blaming everybody Emily I don't think any of us did it!" The White Tiger howled, pointing a menacing finger towards her AllStarz friend. "If any of us did, it was probably you because you're so quick to try and cover up your tracks by blaming everyone else!!" She continued to roar.

Emily's jaw dropped.

"What!? I would _never!_ Mariah you've known me for years! I wouldn't hurt anyone! Emily desperately tried to make herself sound sincere as she put her hands out in a pleading motion. Jemma swung around and grabbed both girls by the arms, hard.

"**Stop it.**" She said clearly, in a harsh tone. "Our friends are dead, and we're probably next. I know it's good to have ideas and all, but while the 3 of us are standing around out here, and there's a chance that it's _not _one of us, he's probably standing somewhere just waiting for one of us to storm off because we're mad at eachother. That's how he got Mariam. He's probably watching. So would you two just _shut up and follow me!?"_ Jemma blared.

"........" Mariah's eyes met the ground, and she sent Emily an apologetic look.

Emily sighed too, turning and beginning to follow the black-haired girl as she lead them away from the balcony.

".....Jemma?" Emily asked.

Jemma turned her head slightly, but kept walking.

"Yeah Emily?"

"....We don't know if Mariam's dead yet..." Jemma felt a weak smile tug at her lips. Maybe she wasn't dead. Emily was right.

"You're right Emily. Sorry." Emily just nodded.

"Hang on a second." Mariah stopped. Emily and Jemma stopped too, turning to face her.

"What?"

"Did anyone check the basement?"

"......" Only a lingering glance was exchanged between the three, before they raced down the hallway and turned several corners. Glancing at floor maps as they flew by, they navigated their way intricately through the red halls.

..Only making 2 or 3 wrong turns.

But finally, all three girls slid to a stop in front of a slightly large door with fading black and gold letters saying 'Basement; Authorized Personnel Only'.

"...How do you miss a thing like that?" Jemma asked slightly humorous. Emily just glanced at her, before looking at the large brass door knob.

"So... Who's gonna go down and check?" The redhead asked.

"'Who'? I thought we were all gonna go.." Mariah said slowly.

"I dunno, Emily's kinda right Mariah... If, God forbid there's something down there it's not the best idea to hand the 3 of us over to him on a silver platter." Jemma remarked. Mariah gulped and nodded.

"Okay.... I'll go." Jemma looked at Emily.

"Are you sure? I could go...." But Emily shook her head.

"No.. I'll go." Emily forced a weak, nervous smile at Jemma and Mariah before stepping forward and between the two and turning the cold brass of the knob. It slid open with a loud crack. Each girl winced at it, while Emily gulped and look down into the dark abyss.

But it wasn't as dark as she expected, what with the light from the hallway shining down.

"..Keep the door open, okay?" Emily said softly as she took a single step onto a creaking basement stair. Mariah and Jemma held the door tightly, biting their lips in fear for their friend.

After all, the basement was the only place they hadn't checked..... That was a lie. There were almost a thousand other rooms. But no keys for them to check. The basement would have to do.

Emily took another shaky step onto the wooden stair, glancing around in the darkness for something inevitable. Her hand gently held onto the stairwell railing for what support.

She stopped quickly.

There was something wet on the rail. Something damp against the cool wood.

"..." Emily began to shake as she lifted her hand, and peered closely at it through the dim light.

The red was unmistakable.

"...Oh god..." Emily stuttered.

"What??? What is it Emily??" Jemma asked curiously, gulping. Emily didn't answer. Instead, she rested all of her weight against the rail of the balcony, and peered down through the crack between the concrete of the low ceiling structure and the rail itself.

And there was her second friend.

Emily let out an ear-piercing scream. Jemma and Mariah gasped and tiptoed quickly down the stairs right after her. Jemma had to grab Mariah and steady her for fear she'd fall down the stairs once they layed eyes on Mariam.

Her body was lying close to the side of the steep stairway, on her back but slightly on her side as well. Her hair was strewn across the floor and her shoulders like a blanket, but the dark blue tresses had dark spots of red stained on it. The vest she wore was frayed out and torn in some parts, by obvious knife-related assaults.. And the puddle of blood surrounding her was all the girls could bare to stand before they glanced around the rest of the basement.

More horror.

Hilary and Salima were there too. Lying in their crumpled positions on the floor.

Mariah turned and bolted back up the staircase, Jemma and Emily following quickly. The run to get back to the room was faster than any other. The three pairs of eyes scanned every corner, every door, every floor for a single clue that they were being pursued.

No.

_**Hunted.**_

They returned to their now-empty room, opened it hastily with Jemma's card key and ducked inside, slamming the door behind them.


	10. Miss Murder

**Jemma:** This is the second last or third last chapter; we haven't exactly decided yet lol. It's a little short, but it's definitely still worth it. Review!

* * *

"What are we gonna do!?" Mariah let out a shrill scream as soon as the door had slammed behind Jemma. Jemma gulped, glancing at the bloodstained sheets fully knowing Salima wouldn't be there. The icy eyed girl pictured her, lying there, lifeless.... Jemma flinched at the painful memory.

"I-I dunno!!" Emily answered soon after. Jemma looked at them, and for the first time Emily and Mariah thought they saw Jemma ready to cry.

But as soon as Jemma felt their gazes back on her, the girl sniffed and got to her knees beside the table Emily had taped the knife too.

And, it was gone.

Jemma's eyes widened.

"It's gone!" She barked. Emily and Mariah wasted no time falling to the floor as well to check themselves, only to figure out that her proclamation was indeed true.

"_Great! _Now what!?" Emily cried out. "We don't even have any weapons to protect ourselves now!" Mariah just sat down on her bed, her hands tightly together in her lap, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. The poor girl began to cry, tears running down her tanned skin.

"W-What did we do...?" She stuttered out, her voice choked with tears. "Why is he doing this!?" She said. "I.. I don't wanna die..!" The pitch in her voice rose at the last syllable. Emily visibly cringed, walking over quickly and wrapping her arms tightly around Mariah. So tightly, it hurt.

"There has to be a way..." Jemma muttered. "Some way... To get out of this....." She looked over at the window, blackened by the night and the still-blowing storm. It must be nearly four in the morning... None of them had slept. They were all so tired... So hungry...

It was strange, how none of those underlying conditions seemed of any importance. In fact, Jemma noticed that they only bothered her if she thought about it.

But, that was just it; _thought_ about it. How could she think about that, in the midst of what was happening now? Jemma sighed, looking away from the window and back over at Mariah and Emily.

The two frightened girls had yet to break their hug, Emily's broken glasses smeared by the fog of her tears. Her large opal eyes were half-lidded and hopeless. Mariah had her head buried into Emily's shoulder, her cries loud yet incoherent. Faced by the looming prospect of death, in a painful, lonely way, Jemma wondered what they thought about. She closed her ice blue eyes in concentration, sorting through her own scared thoughts for what would matter most to her two remaining friends.

Mariah would leave behind her older brother, Lee, who'd promised to always protect her. Jemma had been there to hear his very words. Emily, well, she'd leave behind her parents of course. The next few people Jemma's thoughts went to, were those who had died that night.

_Just how scared was Salima?_

_How close was Hilary to actually getting a signal with her cell phone, and saving lives?_

_How much pain did Mariam feel when her own friends condemned her to death?_

..The last thought hit Jemma the hardest. Mariam was her best friend... Jemma would've gladly, if not happily, taken the SaintShield's place in lying motionless at the bottom of those stairs. How could they make Mariam do that!?

..Their mistake had cost her her life.

_**Kai.**_

What would Kai be thinking right now...? What would he be doing..? Jemma tilted her head back, resting it against the white golden wall. Memories and photos of the stoic Russian captain filled her mind, flooding her with feeling, regret, and pain.

What would Kai do, knowing the girls he Loved were dead?...

Jemma squeezed her eyes shut tighter at the painful realization of what had become of her, and wrapped her sweater clad arms tighter around herself. Waiting for the monster, out there in the maze of this hotel, to come and claim what was his.

"_Mariah!_"

The sudden outburst caught Jemma off guard, and her eyes flew to Mariah and Emily. Or, just Emily. Mariah was on her way to the door of the 5-Star room.

"_I can't stay in here anymore!_" The crying pinkette yelled out. Before Emily could jump from the bed and Jemma could move from her position against the wall, Mariah had flung open the door, and ran out of the room.

Mariah bolted down the endless corridor, over the crimson carpet and down the golden stairs.

Never stopping.

Not going to stop until she got to the door, and out into that world. Out of this Hell.

Mariah tried to see through the blur of her tears and the breeze whisking past her eyes as she ran, headed for an out. Every corner, every door she passed... Something seemed to tease her, taunt her about running away.

Something seemed to call to her, moan to her, 'stop, and come back!'.

But she couldn't. In the course of one night, and one partial morning, Mariah had lost almost everything she held dear. Her friends. Some of them anyway. Mariah tried to push the sound of Jemma and Emily's following footsteps out of her mind, as she nearly leapt down the last flight of stairs and entered the large lobby.

To her, the angels decorating the ceilings seemed to cry. Tears of blood dropped to the floor, and covered the cowardly girl. Flashes of Mariam, Salima, and Hilary dead lit up her mind in horrific slides.

"Mariah!!!!!" Emily and Jemma's concerned voices rang out behind her. Mariah just grit her teeth tighter, trying to speed up her wobbly limbs to make it to the door.

The empty hotel sent the echoes of their screams ringing through the building, only adding to the terrifying cries of the wind and snow battering the hotel outside. The whispers and howls were the scariest sounds Mariah had ever heard.

"Let me _out!_" She screamed, practically running into the large oak doors and beginning to pull frantically at the golden handles.

They _never budged._

"......" Mariah went silent, leaving only the storm outside and the running of her friends behind her being the only sounds throughout the structure. Hesitantly, Mariah turned the hotel door handles again.

_Nothing._

"...No..... NO!" She screamed, banging her fist hardly against the cold wood.

Jemma and Emily finally slid across the cool tile floor to a stop at the doors beside their pink-haired friend.

"Mariah what's wrong!?" Emily said loudly, eyeing the neko-jin who didn't even seem to hear her.

"THE DOOR'S LOCKED!" Mariah screamed. Jemma had never witnessed such terror in human eyes.

The black-haired girl grit her teeth, grabbed Mariah around the waist and pulled her back from the door with her still-angry fists raging.

"Stop it Mariah! Stop before you hurt yourself!" Jemma cried, Emily soon joining her in pulling Mariah away.

The pink haired girl continued flailing and fighting against them, until she fell to her knees, and gave a defeated sob. Jemma and Emily looked at eachother nervously before letting go of Mariah and backing away a step to give her room.

They were all scared... Mariah didn't need to overreact that way.

"I jus..." Mariah stuttered, taking a deep breath through a runny nose and teary eyes, "I just wanna go home....."

"We know, Mariah. We do too..." Emily trailed off, looking back at the big wooden doors looming a few feet from them. "..I don't wanna die....."

Those last few words just set Mariah into another round of sobs, even though she must've decided to do them on foot this time, as she stood up.

"..There's gotta be another way out of this hotel..!" Mariah said through her choked voice, looking back at the hallway corridor and turning to walk for it. Jemma sighed deeply and shoved her hands into her pockets.

"Mariah!" Emily said. "I think it's best that we stick together now, and not be so out in the open!" Emily barked, taking quick steps past Jemma to reach her leaving friend once again.

Only, Emily's shoulder bumped Jemma's right arm. Her arm was yanked out of her pocket, and Emily turned quickly to apologize.

Only to see about twenty Room 2342 card keys tumble out of the girl's sweater pocket and made click sounds as they scattered to the floor.

"......." Emily froze; her eyes locked on the yellow keys on the floor. As Mariah looked behind her at the mess as well, two pairs of eyes soon floated up to meet the third.

Jemma gave a deep sigh, and looked at her friends.

Her eyes were cold, cruel and empty.

The lights flickered, and a boom of wind rocked the hotel like a monster waiting to emerge from the dark.


	11. Bleak

**Jemma:** The chapter after this one will be the last; void of maybe an epilogue. We're not sure yet. Man, this chapter is one of my favorites so far. Muawhahahaha.

* * *

The feelings of animosity, fear, nervousness and tension, above all, were so present in the large hotel lobby that Mariah could practically taste it.

Emily's eyes locked onto the ice blue pools that were Jemma's. They almost seemed to have no emotion. It was scary to see.

"..Jemma..... The cardkeys..?" Emily muttered. Her voice was choked with fright, and any person concentrating hard enough could probably see her visibly shaking arms. The nothingness of the situation, the surprise and the betrayal stirred in the red-head's stomach.

Mariah was a long time ago, frozen. Not even the wringing of the winds and the battery of the snow seemed enough to faze her.

Jemma.

It _couldn't_ be Jemma.

..And, strangely, even though inside Mariah's heart denial for Jemma being the killer continued to scream, the White Tiger began to take slow, increasing-in-velocity steps back toward Emily until her hand rested firmly on Emily's shoulder. Now Mariah too could feel her friend shaking. Or was it just herself..?

"It took you long enough."

The words were plain; they were sharp.

"....."

"To figure it out, I mean." Jemma snorted. "And if you, Emily, hadn't banged into me you'd probably still be clueless."

Never, in their lives, had they heard Jemma speak with such a care-free, brisk tone; did those words even match..? It seemed such a weird combination.. But then again, the girl they knew for years and Loved as one of their own just didn't fit into the serial killing puzzle, either.

Jemma rolled her eyes and sighed at their silence, holding the hem of her sweater and pulling the black fabric off over her head.

The whiteness of her tank top was _blotched, spotted and stained with blood._

Their eyes went wide; their stomachs trembled and their knees shook. Jemma shook her head and tossed her sweater to the floor, sorting out the tangles that embellished her head. Then she reached behind her. Her right hand lifted the back of her tank top; tucked into the lining of her jeans, Jemma pulled the bloody knife from it's hiding place.

"Seriously... How dense can you get?" Jemma asked them; her fingers twirled around the handle of the knife, fingering the already-warm metal that was heated from the skin of her back. "The clues.. The shit you could've used to figure out it was me... It was everywhere. None of you saw it."

"_How could you do this!?"_ Emily jumped in surprise at Mariah's loud cry and cast a quick glance at her friend. She was too scared to completely take her attention from Jemma. The knife-wielding girl turned her head slightly to see Mariah better with the one eye uncovered from her black bangs and smirked.

"If you would've let me finish, I was going to explain that." Jemma said with a smirk. Her tone was slick, icy, and crazy. "It started when our dear ex-boyfriend dumped me;...

"_..What?" Jemma croaked, sitting on the bed of her acting set trailer._

"_I said, "I'm sorry but I don't think we should be together anymore.'" Kai said coldly, looking out the window of the small trailer._

"_But.. But why!?" Jemma squealed, standing up quickly. "I haven't done anything Kai!"_

"_Yes you have! You're so.. You're so jealous.. No one else sees it, but, I do Jemma. It's a wonder the other girls are even your friends. But then again, you're a master of wrapping people around your finger, aren't you?" The Russian beyblader spat at her._

"_I am not Kai!" Jemma said again, trying to defend her digity, and keep the man she so dearly Loved. _

"_Yes. You are." He spoke with a tone so cold it rivaled Boris'. "I've fucking had it, with you talking shit about everyone around you. You're the reason I can't even look at the others.." Kai trailed off, and the corner of his lip almost quivered with anger._

"_How am I the goddamn reason?!"_

"_**Because when I look at them now all I see are flaws!**__" Kai's hiss was even crueler this time, aimed directly at insulting her. "If I'd known what I was getting myself into, I would__** not**__ have __**ever**__ fallen in Love with you or the others. I would've stayed the fuck out of it like any sensible guy should've.." He trailed off again, his voice a low growl. "..You and your fucking rumors... Your lies..." _

"_They're __**not**__ lies!" Jemma screamed, taking a step closer to Kai and grabbing his shoulders. But the BladeBreaker just growled again and pushed her snow white hands from him. _

"_Don't touch me. It's not me you should apologize to. It's Mariah, Mariam, Salima, Emily and Hilary." Kai spat again._

_Jemma's arms dropped to her sides; the feelings, devoid of sadness, left her eyes. She watched as Kai stalked out of her trailer, slammed the door behind him so quickly that the chill of the winter air outside stroked her, then headed for Mariam's trailer._

"He said he didn't like the way I talked about you.. The way I tried to drag you down so I could have him for myself.." Jemma snarled, "How Salima told me she'd never have sex with him; he wasn't deserving of that. How Mariam didn't really like him at all, I mean 'she was just with him because the rest of us were'. And you two... I mean, fame is a feeble thing.. Since you were losing popularity, I told Kai that he was just a quick means of raising it back up again." Jemma said coldly.

Mariah and Emily were frozen where they stood, struggling to find the words to describe what Jemma had told them.

She was the one. The one who lost them the one they Loved, and caused them so much pain. Who took their friends away...

"Kai couldn't take it. I guess he's not so much of a knight in shining armor when he lets stupid rumors like that sink in," She scoffed."He could've just left me (which would've made me even angrier,) and stayed with the five of you, but, he didn't. What I was saying to him about you guys, sadly kinda made sense to him. All I had to do was provide an answer to the mystery flaw of every girl he Loved." Jemma's smirk was dark and sinister.

But by no means, was she finished explaining yet.

"A week later, I think it was... I heard Judy talking about the storm on Valentine's Day." Jemma smirked again;

_Jemma's hands were in her pockets, where her Mp3 player that she'd brought with she and Mariam back to the BBA building that day rested. Her thumb slid carefully down over the volume button as she passed the BBA staff room. Mindless, stupid conversations.._

_...._

'_A storm for Valentine's? How sad...'_

_...._

_Jemma paused, and let Mariam walk on ahead. A smirk grew on her pale face._

"Then all I had to do was get me a location. Mariam provided one for me."

_"Hm? Run away where?" Emily was about to answer when Mariam answered for her._

_"Anywhere. What would you guys say about a little getaway, you know, just us girls? Just the 6 of us? I was thinking... That maybe we could all put our cheques together and rent a hotel."_

"YOU KILLED HER!" This time it was Emily's turn to scream. Jemma just sighed; a hint of regret and sadness to her tone of voice.

"She was probably the hardest to get rid of... Despite me being a killer I'm still a human. We spent a lot of time together and having to do away with her will always be a hard thing to remember." Mariah's jaw dropped.

...Human? No way in hell was the girl who stood before them human! Not by a long-shot!

"..You might have a beating heart in your chest and light in your eyes... But you'll never be human to me." Mariah said, her voice a low, sad rumble.

"That's fine." Jemma said, "You'll be dead soon so you won't get a chance to care."

Mariah and Emily grit their teeth; they had lost too much already to forfeit their lives to this fiend they thought was their friend.

"..You're heartless..." Emily murmured, her eyes on the metallic metal clutched in Jemma's pale hand. "...You killed Hilary.. And Salima.... Mariam.... Over... Over a boy..?" Emily stuttered. Her azure eyes were so bright and brimming with tears that Jemma thought the blueness would drain away.

"You knew."

"Knew what!?" Mariah spat. She was through; _through _being the sorried little girl who could only cry and scream for mommy. She wouldn't let Jemma win this war.

"THAT KAI MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME!" The sudden burst of anger, twisted into a sick knot with jealousy and regret caused Mariah and Emily to step backwards in fright. Jemma narrowed her eyes at it. "..You knew that I would've killed for him."

"YOU'RE SICK!" Emily screamed, tears that were held inside her eyes now cascading down her cheeks.

"Looks like I will be killing for him. Again." Jemma's voice had attained it's regularity for that evening; cold and cruel. The two girls before her began to slowly move backwards toward the hallway that Mariah had been headed for earlier.

She gasped slightly, as her hip collided with the receptionists' counter. As her hand rested on it to steady herself, Mariah's fingers slid over something cool and silver as well.

She wrapped her hand around it tightly; holding on for dear life.

Two seconds later and Emily bolted down the hallway, dragging Mariah so fast the pink-haired girl could hardly see what she was passing.

Jemma stood and watched them go with a smirk. Turning her head of raven hair, she looked over the floor plans of the hotel that she had studied so much earlier.

* * *

"We've gotta split up!" Mariah panted, drawing to a stop with Emily once the girls were sure they were out of ears' range and far enough away throughout the humongous hotel that Jemma would have to struggle to catch up with them.

"What!? Are you crazy!?" Emily breathed, "You're just asking for it then!" Mariah gave her a serious look; intensified by the tears in her golden orbs.

"One of us needs to find another exit... Jemma has the doors locked... Besides.. If she catches the both of us, we're doomed..." Mariah muttered, turning her gaze that had softened considerably away from Emily and back at the ruby carpet.

"But Mariah... She..!" Emily choked on her own words, grabbing Mariah's arm. "She'll kill me..!"

"No, she won't Emily. No one will!" Mariah took her scared friend's hands and held them tightly. "I won't let her!"

Emily just cried, unable to keep eye contact with Mariah since the red-head continuously looked over her shoulder for the sight of their cold-blooded killer.

"Now.. Emily, go left." With that, Mariah let go of Emily's hands, and ran down the right-turning corridor.

Emily stood alone for a few moments; then, grit her teeth, wiped her tears and ran down the left.

* * *

Back in the lobby.... Jemma walked into the hallway with every intention of finishing her spree.

* * *

Mariah took deep, seething, heavy breaths as she pushed and throttled every window and every door she passed going down the hallway. It seemed hopeless.

But she had hope. Like she'd thought earlier; Jemma was **not** going to win this war. It wouldn't end like this. It couldn't end like this....

Mariah grit her pointy teeth at another failed attempt at a barricaded door and rounded the left staircase, heading up a floor.

She was going to get out of here alive; _whether she had to kill to do it or not._

* * *

Emily ran with lagging steps, casting a glance in every dark corner, every nook and every cranny for the sight of her. The sight of the girl she thought she knew so well, to be so gentle and easy-going.

The girl she knew to be her undoing.

Her heart was doing figure-eights as Emily turned another corner, and then another, looking feverishly for any door or exit. She tried the balcony where they had found Hilary's body; it was now locked. Not that she could see out of it anyway...

* * *

Jemma opened the panel box in the kitchen; she gave the wires a quick cut with her knife.

* * *

Mariah gasped and froze solid in her run as the lights flickered; then went out.

No. Not happening.

Was it the storm, or was it Jemma...? Mariah didn't want to guess. She didn't want to know. She just wanted to get out alive and go home.

As she tried the balcony on the opposite side of the hotel -locked obviously- her heart was beginning to ache. ..This.. This didn't happen to good friends and people.

Not in reality!

At least... She never thought it would happen to her.

Mariah looked around at the black nothingness hopelessly, before planting her hands on the walls softly and beginning a careful jog towards the other end of the hotel.

* * *

Jemma stood at the foot of the stairs, staring upward. Her smirk was so devious... As she heard the footsteps, her smirk grew even more mischievous, and she stalked up them quickly.

One of them at least, was not even two corners away from her.

The end was near.


	12. The End

**Jemma:** This is the end. A pretty gruesome one, if I do say so myself. Thanks to everyone!

* * *

Mariah ran faster down the dark, cold hallways. Every creak, every shift of the massive hotel under the wind's assault caused her to nearly cry out in fear for being caught.

Their friend... How could she.. ?

Mariah searched her brain, but she couldn't find an answer. Just like she couldn't find another way out of this dream-turned-nightmare. But she had to... It was fight or flight, and when she was up against cold hard steel, ...Flight was always better.

Her breath was coming out in heavy pants now, despite her attempts to quiet it. Would Jemma hear...? Was she coming now?? Was she just waiting for Mariah to make a wrong turn somewhere???

The poor girl didn't know. Then, Mariah stopped solid as she heard distinct footsteps from around the corner of the ominous hotel.

Jemma..._ Jemma had found her! _

Mariah gulped, shivering as she just edged a little closer to the wall and a few centimeters away from the corner. The pink-haired girl zipped her lips shut, squeezing her golden amber orbs closed and just praying, she would not die here tonight.

Her hand clenched around cold, heartless silver.

* * *

Jemma smirked to herself, her hand twirling the knife delicately and silently. Just around the corner; just around the corner, and everything would be right.

They made her do this.. They forced her hand. Jemma suppressed a sigh. It was hard... But this was what needed to be done.

Jemma clenched the knife tightly, as she turned the corner.

* * *

It happened so fast, that Mariah hardly knew what she'd done. The figure turned the corner, and Mariah leaped with a shriek.

Burying the letter opener deep into her chest.

Once Mariah had regained some consciousness, and as her vision adjusted outside of the fresh salty tears... Her heart dropped.

Emily gagged as she fell backward awkwardly onto the floor, clutching and grabbing at the murderous object embedded in her chest.

"..Emily...... I'M SO SORRY!" Mariah dropped to her knees by her injured friend, and scooped Emily's head into her arms. The look in Emily's eyes...

That surprise... The fear...

_That wasn't supposed to happen!_

Emily's body continued to jerk upwards slightly, blood spurting from around the edges of the embedded letter opener and soaking both Mariah and Emily grimly.

"You can't die! Emily, I'm so sorry!! I WON'T LET YOU DIE!" Mariah turned her attention to the opener, and grit her teeth as she gripped the end of the handle with two fingers and pulled ever so slightly.

Emily's scream was deafening, hoarse and chokey. The blood spurted faster and Mariah shrieked in fright at it, shaking violently with shock.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" She gasped, her hand flinging backward from the letter opener and flying to Emily's cheeks.

Paleness was rapidly spreading... Mariah could tell, no matter how dark it was.

"Please don't leave me Emily... I'm so, so sorry..." Mariah muttered, her tears dripping from her trembling chin and rolling down Emily's cool cheeks, mixing with her own tears.

Emily's fading azure eyes just cast Mariah one sad look...

And then she was gone.

Mariah's cries that night became the loudest Jemma had ever heard. The ice-eyed girl sighed deeply with a smirk.

"Gotta say; Not bad. Thanks for doing some of my job for me."

Mariah's head whipped around to face her murdering specter, leaning against the corner in a very similar position to her ex boyfriend's.

Jemma just smiled; sinisterly.

"This is where you run."

Mariah was much obliged.

Without another glance to her fallen friend, Mariah jumped to her feet and bolted down the dark hallway.

Jemma stared after her, watching the neon pink of her hair disappear around a corner further down. That same cold, sinister smirk crossed her lips. Her grip tightened on her knife as she looked at Emily; sympathetically.

Then shot after Mariah like a bat out of hell.

Mariah, slowed by her sadness and confusion in the dark along with tear-failing vision, had only advanced about three corridors when she began to hear Jemma's fast footfalls close behind her. She choked down air as she ran, trying to find the strength to keep going; to keep pushing herself onward.

Jemma looked at a digital clock on the wall as she passed it; 11:35 PM. Going over everything in her mind. Hilary was the first to die; she was killed in the early morning. Next was Salima; that was dinner time. A few hours later and it had been Mariam, after about supper time. Then Emily; minutes ago.

'_A truly excellent holiday to remember...'_ Jemma thought, a hint of bitterness in her mental voice. _'If only you'd all not been so greedy... If only you'd have accepted that just me and Kai were meant to be. You'd still be alive._'

Another thought struck Jemma as she continued to pursue Mariah down the corridors. 11:35... It had actually been a _long_ time. She'd hoped to have been out of that damned building by 8.

Not so lucky. Especially with one on the run and the clock still ticking.

The extra motivation for meeting her deadline only pushed Jemma harder, and added speed to her chase.

Jemma's footsteps behind her had picked up a new pace, and Mariah let out a strangled cry as she found herself in the lobby once more; the large open lobby, with it's crying angel ceilings and it's fools gold appearance.

Mariah ran straight at the door once more, the one she'd tried earlier and found it locked.

Sadly, this attempt only brought upon the same discovery.

Mariah screamed in agony and fear, resorting once more to pounding her fists on the fancy wood and just willing it desperately to open. She wasn't ready to look death in the face... Not ready to die...

"LET ME OUT!" She screamed desperately, "I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

Mariah just continued to pound on the door, almost violently. She sunk to her knees, wet with tear and sweat. She was so preoccupied, that she didn't even notice Jemma advance till she was only about a foot away from her.

"You _really are hopeless._ And I would've thought of that _before_ you scammed on Kai."

The White Tiger female's head whipped around to face Jemma, but only for a second. The shine of the knife Jemma had raised above her was too much for Mariah to bear; so she looked away.

Waiting for the inevitable hit.  
Waiting for the end to come.  
Waiting for nothing.  
Waiting to die.

"Goodbye, Mariah. Burn in hell, skank."

...It never came.

As soon as Jemma had said those words, Mariah had expected that blood rusted knife to come down and cause her a world of pain, before a world of loneliness; so much that she'd even physically flinched as she heard the air around Jemma's moving arm.

But it never came.

Though something else did.

Mariah heard something heavy fall to the floor, like wood.

She opened her teary golden eyes and looked up.

Jemma stood staring straight ahead... Blood beginning to drip down her forehead.

A second later, she fell forward. Mariah screamed and crawled to the side, making sure the body of her would-be killer didn't so much as touch her ever again. Once she'd stopped shaking, she looked outward from her position. Just a meter to her left, there was a fancy wooden chair lying toppled, almost broken.

In front of her, behind where Jemma had been, Mariam now stood, breathing heavily and holding her side and stomach tightly.

"..Mariam... MARIAM!" Mariah screamed, leaping to her shaky feet and looping her hurting friend's arm over her shoulders.

"We've gotta... Get outta here.. We've gotta get help..." Mariam muttered. Her now-light green eyes were focused on the body of her attempted murderer. Mariah's amber eyes scanned her savior up and down, before looking back at Jemma as well.

Mariam had trickles of tears running down her pale face. Then, finally after about a minute of silence.. The girls heard something they'd only prayed for these last few hours.

Voices. Heavy machine sounds. Cars. Horns. An ambulance maybe.

Mariah looked at Mariam as they started to laugh; then up at the clock.

**_12:01._**

They'd survived the Valentine's Day massacre.

* * *

At least, that was what the papers had called it. Mariam sighed deeply, still staring out at the snowflakes from the BBA building windows.

Who know losing your murderous, killing best friend would still be painful?

"Hey. Drink?"

Mariam looked up at Mariah, who wore a sad smile, and handed her a sparkling glass of champagne.

"Thanks. So.. I haven't seen him around the building tonight. Where is he?" Mariah sat down in the chair across from Mariam and gave her friend a lost look.

"..At her grave, I guess.... He goes every week. But tonight, I guess he wants to spend more time there..... I actually thought you'd be there too."

Mariam looked away from Mariah's searching golden eyes, and took a sip of her champagne.

"No. I couldn't. Besides.. She was kinda right.. Kai did Love her more than he'd cared for any of us."

Mariah sighed sadly.

"We should just be thankful that Hilary's cell had actually placed a 911 call before it went dead. It could be worse."

Mariam nodded weakly.

"Yeah. Happy Valentine's Day, Mariah."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Mariam."

* * *

**SB:** That's the end of this fic. Thanks to everyone who was a loyal reviewer! Hope you enjoyed it :)


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